Head over to CrimeReads to read this insightful essay from author Peter Church. Peter examines how the country’s history and present plays a role in how crime writers have approached the genre. You can get your copy of Peter’s own entry into the genre, the techno-thriller Crackerjack, on February 26.
You could be forgiven for assuming South Africa is fertile ground for local crime fiction writers. If the Scandinavians have created an industry from the pickings of their meagre experiences, surely the Southern tip of Africa would be bursting with such writers.
The truth is that crime fiction is almost too painful to bear in South Africa. The country is tottering on the tipping edge of corruption and crime. Dominant publications are non-fiction and the scribes are investigative journalists peddling fact not fancy. Imagination withers in the face of stark reality.
Read the rest of Peter’s essay at CrimeReads
